Food Security a hot topic-recent & coming events

FOOD SECURITY - and planning for it in new and multi-disciplinary ways – has become a ‘hot’ topic in 2011, spurred on by civil unrest in the Middle East, and droughts and floods closer to home.

As the year draws to a close here’s a snapshot of some key recent and coming events you might like to attend, track or read proceedings from…

1) The Australian Academy of Social Sciences – 2011 Annual Symposium was held on November 8 2011 in Canberra. Topic: Food Regimes and Food Security

Cunningham Lecture that can be downloaded: “Living with an unsustainable food system: can food democracy resolve the dilemmas?” Professor Tim Lang, Professor of Food Policy, City University, London

Other speakers included: Food security in remote Indigenous communities, including community stores and their role in the health of remote Indigenous communities and the Mai Wiru program, South Australia

2) Food security and biosecurity symposium was held at the University of Sydney on November 16, 2011

One day event at which agricultural professionals and leading experts addressed the interaction between food security and biosecurity on dealing with biosecurity risks in a way that minimises major impacts on our food security. This important one-day symposium Protecting our crops: the interaction between food security and biosecurity was organised by the NSW division of the Ag Institute Australia (AIA) in collaboration with the Farrer Trust, with support from the Australian Plant Pathology Society (APPS), NSW Department of Primary Industries, Grains Research and Development Corporation, and the Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources.

5-8 December 2011, Australian National University, Canberra

The Australasian Agri-food Research Network is an open network of researchers interested in food, agriculture and the rural sector. Its aim is to provide a collaborative forum for researchers interested in food, agriculture and rural issues from across different areas of the social sciences. This years event includes a special theme session on ‘Negotiating a politics for indigenous agricultural food networks’ that is led by NZ academics and may include a paper from RIG Network.

4) 3rd Sustainable Phosphorous Summit, Sydney – 29 Feb – 2 Mar 2012

The Summit will bring together key international science, policy and industry stakeholders from different parts of the food production and consumption chain concerned about the role of phosphorus availability and accessibility in global food security, about protecting the environment, and about supporting rural and urban livelihoods. Themes include: